Are Apple users savvier shoppers?

iOS devices account for disproportionate number of Black Friday searches

Owners of iPhones and iPads pay a premium for their Apple
AAPL, +1.71%
devices, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t looking to save a few bucks elsewhere. In fact, though Android devices outnumber those running iOS, Apple users were four times as likely to search for Black Friday deals, new research finds.

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As retailers released their Black Friday deals online on Thanksgiving, data indicates that owners of Apple devices were on the case. U.S. consumers using Apple’s iOS operating system drove 19% of online sales compared to 5% for Google’s
GOOG, +1.20%
Android, according to the “IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark,” a real-time analysis of millions of online transactions from 800 retailers. The type of device used also affects sales. Smartphone owners browse, while tablet owners buy, the study found: Tablets drove 15% of online sales versus 9% for smartphones.

Apple also has far more affluent customers than Android, says Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute. What’s more, Apple users spent $127 per order online versus $113 for Android, the IBM study found. Android phones are sold at heavy discounts, while Apple keeps a tight rein on its pricing for iPads and iPhones, says Thomas Husson principal analyst at Forrester Research. “iOS users also tend to be more mobile-savvy than Android’s,” he says.

These wealthier mobile users are obviously leaving a heavier online footprint in stores. Major online retailers experienced a 25% increase in revenue during the five days leading up to Thanksgiving compared to 2012, according to an analysis of more than 100 million online shopping sessions carried out by marketing research firm Monetate from Nov. 23rd to 27th, even though the actual traffic only increased by 15%. Traffic from tablets increased 47% from a year ago, compared to 37% on smartphones. Traffic from traditional desktop and laptop computers, meanwhile, dropped nearly 3%.

Apple products also command a pricing premium among advertisers compared to Google’s operating system: The cost-per-thousand views – a key metric in the advertising industry – was 34% higher on Apple devices than on Android in September 2013, according to MoPub, a mobile ad exchange that allows app publishers and advertisers to bid for ads. “But Android maintains strong growth and continues to close the gap,” the report found. (Apple and Google did not respond to requests for comment.)

These mobile ads are critical during the holiday season, creating a sudden and dramatic spike in ad spending, says e-commerce consultant Bryan Eisenberg. Mobile media buyers swiftly shift their advertising spend in real-time based on insights about user behavior during severe weather storms, holidays and live mass media events like the Super Bowl, he says. Conversely, they pull back on ads during times like the “fiscal cliff” – the series of tax and budgetary measures that were due to expire last year – and the shutdown of the federal government during 2013 when consumers cut back on spending, Eisenberg says.

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